


The Death of a Champion

by addyrobin



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:33:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21542287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/addyrobin/pseuds/addyrobin
Summary: Despite his best efforts, Revali's first fight aboard Vah Medoh will also be his last.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	The Death of a Champion

**Author's Note:**

> Revali is my favorite champion, and I adore him, but I am also a very morbid person. I started writing this many months ago after playing and beating BotW for the first time, and I decided to just do a quick burst to finish it since I don't think I ever would if I don't now. As the tags say, warning for character death (Revali), graphic depictions of violence... If there's anything I forgot to tag, please let me know and I'll correct the issue as soon as I can.
> 
> Credit where credit is due! While my initial inspiration for writing this was just loving Revali, I also read a tumblr post that helped to add to and add further inspiration to this fic, which you can see here:  
> https://ask-link-the-hylian-champion.tumblr.com/post/183757718655/so-here-i-am-at-almost-1-in-the-morning-crying
> 
> Side note: I don't really know any techno talk. Feel free to laugh at my error messages!

Under Revali’s wing, Divine Beast Vah Medoh moves onward.

He’d never imagined the Divine Beast would be so reactive, but she twists and turns at even the slightest brush from his wingtip. He’s lucky to have a gentle touch despite his warrior’s instincts— it makes this all just a bit easier to handle. It’s impossible to imagine how Daruk must fare in piloting one of these... but then, Revali suspects Vah Rudania is a bit more stiff and sturdy in its movements to better suit a Goron pilot. Medoh, meanwhile, truly matches the Rito with her grace and sensitivity, her light frame soaring through the air with ease and comfort.

“No issues yet...” he murmurs, setting Vah Medoh to autopilot and taking a step back from the controls. Revali could stand here and muse all day while steering Medoh with ease, but there’s still work proper to be done, and he wouldn’t dare let himself be caught slacking off while that Hylian is probably out there somewhere swinging his sword and acting high and mighty at the princess’s side. As much as he’d like to deny it, it makes him feel a bit anxious being stuck up here while the ‘hero’ fights on the front lines. Why shouldn’t he be there? It’s the final hour, and yet...

And yet... he’s been sidelined, like he’s just another disposable, faceless soldier of the army. Made to wait for a signal so that he can fire a beam and then sit here some more... Who’s going to celebrate his name for  _ this _ , staying far from the battlefield and watching while others fall at Ganon’s hands? They all say he’s skilled, but really, he’s sure anyone with half a brain could do this task without issue. 

“Perhaps I’ll fly down there once Medoh’s in position,” he mutters, pacing to the window so that he can stare down onto the expanse of Hyrule beneath him. “Pick off a few moblins with my bow, save some lives, and soar back up here to finish the deed as they cheer my name...”

He has to shake himself of the thought. Tempting as it is, they might also call him a deserter if anything goes wrong with Medoh and he’s not here to stop it... Not that it will. The Divine Beast is practically impenetrable by normal means. The lengths one would have to go to in order to damage her would be—

The lights flicker.

Vah Medoh’s piercing shriek fills the air suddenly, and Revali claps his wings over his head just to dampen the sound. Around him, the Beast’s lights flicker and flash for a moment as though losing power, and he rushes back to the terminal to try and work out the issue.

“Zelda never mentioned anything about power outages...” He’s thankful no one is here to hear his voice shake as he tries to activate the controls, brushing his wingtips gently over the pad as he’s practiced so many times... Nothing happens.

“Medoh, please...” It comes out more anxious than impatient, and Revali clicks his tongue as the power flickers again. Why this? Why now? Even more embarrassing than doing practically nothing on the battlefield would be failing to accomplish this simplest of tasks because of a power failure...

Vah Medoh shrieks again without his input, a tinny, angry screech that edges on sounding pained, and he winces. Something in his gut is telling him that this is no mere power outage... He grabs the Great Eagle Bow from his back and holds it at the ready, carefully stepping away from the terminal as Vah Medoh shakes with unprecedented turbulence. Perhaps something is caught in one of her lifting fans?

With the interior growing darker by the second, Revali makes haste. His talons click loudly against the stone floor with every bound, but he’s not intending to be stealthy now—speed is the priority here, before things can get any worse. He rounds the corner and steps into the second room to inspect Medoh’s fans, listening for any obvious signs of turmoil...

“Gh!” He nearly trips over something dark in his rush, gasping in pain and leaping back as the foul substance singes his leg slightly... a pool of Malice. He shoots the eyeball that protrudes from it with no hesitation, shielding his face as it bursts and splatters further onto Vah Medoh’s body. “What in the world...”

Revali finally pauses, taking a second to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness... and finds that a great deal of Medoh’s interior has somehow become covered in thick, dark gobs of Malice. It obstructs doorways, blocks windows... He looks towards the only open doorway with a frown, bowstring drawn as he moves carefully forward. None of this was here minutes ago. He’s certain he checked. So then, how…? How did Vah Medoh become so tarnished? Did she fly through something while on autopilot? 

But no, he was there, he still would have seen...

Another desperate shriek echoes from Medoh’s beak, and Revali leaps into action. He sprints to the window and and soars into the air with his wings spread wide, letting the air currents guide him to the roof.

It’s still pristine up here, with one exception: Medoh’s central terminal, the one which he’ll use to fire the beam, is now thoroughly coated with Malice. Its screen glows dimly, as though someone has already been here to activate it...

Heart pounding, Revali checks the air around him, bowstring still taut. He can see no enemies, hear no turmoil. And yet... something about this feels wrong. A sense of apprehension so powerful that it’s nearly tangible keeps him from moving forward.

Perhaps he should call for help. Vah Medoh is still flying, he’s surely got time...

...but no. Even if he did, who could help him? Surely not the princess, and especially not Link.

“Tch...” He takes a step forward despite himself, standing tall. What is he thinking? He’s Revali, great Rito champion and unparalleled warrior. He doesn’t need their help with this. Wasn’t he just saying how much he’d like to be down there fighting? And now the fight has come to him.

“I’ll warn you now,” he calls out across Vah Medoh, “Whatever monster may have boarded this ship, you face Revali, champion of the Rito and designated pilot of the Divine Beast Vah Medoh! If you wish to keep your life, I’d suggest you come out now and surrender. I shall not hold back against you otherwise!”

His prideful shout receives no answer, and he closes his beak. Fine, then. He’ll take whatever did this down and return to his people with a tale of heroics for the ages. He strides towards the terminal with new purpose, Great Eagle Bow still ready to be drawn whenever he needs it, and taps the glowing terminal with his wingtip.

...A message in red pops up.

[Fatal Error.]

[Unexpected breach of defenses.

Map schematic not found.

Data is corrupt.

Divine Beast controls must be recalibrated.]

“What in Goddess Hylia’s name...” Revali scowls, trying again. “What does any of this mean?”

New messages pop up in response to his touch:

[Fatal Error.]

[Pilot data not recognized.

Automatic path mapping not found.

Motion controls disabled.

Switching to default “Gliding” mode.]

“For the love of... Come on, Medoh, not now...” Revali sighs, irritation getting the better of him as he gently kicks the terminal. It beeps helplessly at him, and he groans. He KNEW this was too easy...

A final error, brighter than the rest, shines back at Revali:

[FATAL ERROR.]

The screen begins rolling with text faster than he can process it. He tries in vain to process some of what he’s seeing, but the screen’s barrage of errors never slows. 

[ERROR.]

[FLIGHTPATH.DAT COULD NOT BE LOADED.]

[ERROR.]

[MOTIONCONTROLPROCESS.DLL HAS STOPPED RESPONDING.]

[ERROR.]

[TERMINAL 1 HAS STOPPED RESPONDING.]

[ERROR. CANNOT REACTIVATE ANTI-MALICE PROTECTION.]

[ERROR.]

[TERMINAL 2 HAS STOPPED RESPONDING.]

[ANTI-PROJECTILE SHIELDS HAVE BEEN DISABLED.]

[ERROR.]

[TERMINAL 5 HAS STOPPED RESPONDING.]

[ERROR 0.]

[THE NUMBER OF ERRORS HAS EXCEEDED THE SYSTEM’S ERROR PROCESSING CAPACITY.]

[PRESS (+/-) FOR DETAILED REPORT.]

[UNRECOGNIZED ERROR.]

[ERROR 0.]

[ERROR 0.]

[ERROR 0.]

[ALL SYSTEMS UNRESPONSIVE. THE APPLICATION “DIVINE_VM.EXE” WILL BE TERMINATED.]

[SEND DISTRESS CALL?]

[Y/N]

“I  _ don’t need _ a distress call! I can handle this myself!” Revali snaps, his feathers bristling as he reaches up to hit ‘No’, his head still swimming as he attempts to process the text he’s seen. Why in the world didn’t Zelda—

Vah Medoh screams.

Revali’s gaze snaps to her head, terminal beeping urgently behind him... 

Something wicked and dark lurks in the air above Medoh’s head. Its body is a twisted, churning mass of Malice riddled with bits of metal and dripping sickly red globs of  _ something _ , its left arm ending in a clawed hand whose gangly fingers twitch and shiver, and its right ending in a giant instrument that glows blue, something that reminds him of the color of the lasers that Guardians shoot from their eyes. The rest of its body seems a similar make, its entire lower half composed of something that resembles the interior of one of Vah Medoh’s lifting fans… but it occasionally spits out small clouds of Malice. A set of mechanical-looking spikes protrude from its shoulder blades, and upon its face, masking its mane of burning red hair, lies a broad black mask marked with the telltale constellation-like patterns of Sheikah technology, a single blue eye staring back at Revali from within.

“A… Guardian…?” he murmurs to himself, watching as the thing drifts slowly back and forth over Medoh’s head. But no… The Guardians are made to  _ help _ them. How could one…

The terror emits a scream that shakes the very air and sends a chill through Revali, and even from here he catches a foul, metallic scent on the wind like a mix of charred flesh and hot iron. He winces, clamping his beak shut and trying not to breathe the hot air. No, this is no Guardian. He’s no fool. Sheikah technology or not, the mass of Malice that composes its body can only be the work of one creature:

Ganon.

With his Gale ready, Revali launches himself into the air and flips the Great Eagle Bow off of his back. The scourge of Ganon follows him with its single eye, hand still twitching as Revali dives, firing off a round of arrows.

“So slow!” he calls, voice brimming with confidence as he fires off a second round of arrows, then a third. “Really. A chance to fight one of Ganon’s finest one on one, and they send me their biggest lug? You DO know who I am, don’t you?”

The monster drifts languidly as Revali dives, watching his arrows. Time moves as though in slow motion as he watches the path of his arrows, drawing closer and closer to the thing, merely heartbeats away from piercing its single eye...

\--and then, in an instant, it vanishes.

“What!?” Revali nearly flinches in the air, converting himself into a tailspin to view the full battlefield. He knows it hasn’t fled. He can still sense its presence somewhere in the air around Medoh, watching, waiting--

\--it appears before him as he completes his turn, swiping down at him with a claw.

“Ah!” Revali closes his wings, cutting through the air and shooting away from the creature, but it’s scraped his back roughly. He falls to Vah Medoh’s back less than gracefully, skimming across the ground slightly as he hits it, and watches as the plague of Ganon returns to its awkward, slow drifting pattern.

“Oho. So that was a trap, was it...” Despite the pain, Revali can feel an adrenaline rush coursing through him. Now  _ here _ is a challenge, a chance to prove himself to everyone and show how much of a champion he truly is! He’ll show the princess just what she missed out on when she chose that damn Hylian instead of him!

An angry beep sounds beside him, and he glances over for just a moment. He’s beside the terminal again, and it’s flashing the same message it did before:

[ERROR 0.]

[SEND DISTRESS CALL?]

[Y/N]

“I thought I told you already, there’s no need for that…” he murmurs to the terminal, giving it another gentle kick with his talon before returning his eyes to the sky. The thing is going to teleport again, but this time he  _ won’t _ be made a fool of. With another burst of his Gale, Revali launches himself back into the sky and aims the Great Eagle Bow, drawing the bowstring and holding it as he closes his wings and begins to fall back down.

“Steady…” he murmurs, closing his eyes. The wind whistles around him as he falls faster and faster, but he continues to listen, waiting for what he knows will come…

His eyes snap open as he hears a break in the wind and kicks out with his talon, scratching the beast across its stomach. It screeches with pain and drifts back a good few yards, and the distance gives Revali the perfect chance to let loose another volley of arrows. He fires-- once, twice, thrice-- and spreads his wings, soaring to the skies on an updraft as the arrows pierce the plague’s eye. 

“Yes!” Revali laughs as the plague howls in agony, letting himself drop a bit. “Come now! You’ll have to do better than that! Come and get me!”

Revali beats his wings and begins to climb towards the sun, confidence brimming in his heart when he hears the scourge of Ganon following. He closes his wings, dropping past it with the speed of a falling star and laughing as it swipes at the empty air where Revali once was. Distance now gained, he fires a trio of arrows from below and strikes the creature in its back. It screams as it tries to follow him down by teleporting, but he soars back up as soon as he’s able, keeping his distance with no effort at all.

“What’s wrong? Don’t know how to fly and fight at the same time?” Revali readies his bow, repeating the process of dropping past the beast, shooting it, and soaring back up before it can recover as the monster screams in agony, watching him and twitching as it drifts in the air. It raises the contraption on its right arm and rattles it as though shaking a fist at him. “If  _ this _ is the best that Ganon can do, perhaps he should have spent another 10,000 years planning for--”

He’s blinded for a moment as the monster drops its right arm and fires off a laser.

Revali tries to climb, but the beam is faster than he anticipates. He cries out as the laser singes his leg in the same spot that the pool of Malice from before did and begins to fall, stunned out of action by the pain. Have Guardians always been able to fire lasers so fast? Did Princess Zelda mention that?

It fires again and again, and it’s all Revali can do to avoid the beams by diving as fast as he can towards Medoh instead of trying to rise. He tries to recover from his rapid descent too late, crashing into Vah Medoh’s surface with a terrible crack of stone and landing once again beside the central terminal. He doesn’t even have to look to know what the beeping surface is saying: 

[ERROR 0.]

[SEND DISTRESS CALL?]

[Y/N]

“For the last time... I don’t... need _ anyone’s _ help!!!” He shouts, forcing himself back to a stand and nearly collapsing again when he tries to put weight on his damaged leg. He leans on the unexposed parts of the terminal for support, breathing heavily. “I can... fight this. This battle… is to prove myself!!!”

The monster teleports directly in front of him, looming over Revali with its cannon at the ready. He leaps to the side as it fires, careful not to land on his bad leg, and fumbles for the Great Eagle Bow with a shaking wing. But before he can get in position for a shot, the monster fires again-- and again, and again--

“Gh!” Revali keeps leaping away; back, to the side, back further, trying to get more distance between himself and the thing, but it’s hard to jump when his leg is as injured as it is. He can tell its motive here is to keep him from gaining distance; firing a bow at close range won’t do him any favors, and this thing is far faster than it lets on. No, fighting like this isn’t going to work-- but he still has the advantage in the air. As long as he can fly, he can keep his distance…

Revali hops back, back, and off the edge of Vah Medoh, dropping down below the Divine Beast. He closes his eyes, focusing on the air around him…

...then soars upward and outward with Revali’s Gale, bursting over the edge of the roof on the opposite side and spreading his wings to glide in circles around the roof of Vah Medoh. Now, using the updrafts to his advantage, Revali is flying faster than the plague of Ganon can teleport. He fires a round of arrows at its eye as it tries to track him, its cannon fire not quite fast enough to keep up with gliding speed. He watches the arrow trails fly as the monster slowly looks up, and whoops as his arrow hits its mark. It sags after the arrow lands, whole body drooping from what Revali assumes must be pain. He’s sure this lumbering beast must be getting tired now, so all he’s got to do is outpace it and he’ll be through…!

“Did you think that such simple tactics would be enough to defeat me? Perhaps you really _ don’t _ know who I am!” he calls, prideful shout echoing in the open air. As though resounding with his confidence, Vah Medoh lets out a cry that Revali can only imagine is victorious. “You face the great Rito Champion, Revali! My bow shall be your end!”

The monster screams, and Revali chuckles at the thought that he may have truly angered it. Good. Now perhaps it will fight back properly. He glides back around and aims his bow, ready to strike…

...but the monster’s scream appears to have summoned something, and Revali’s eyes can’t quite distinguish what it is from this distance. He tries to focus his eyes on it, squinting. It’s some kind of little machine hovering beside the plague, appearing unequipped with any weaponry as it darts nervously about Ganon’s monster. He drifts a bit closer as another of the strange machines rises up, then a third, then a fourth. The beast raises its cannon, aiming straight for Revali.

“I believe I warned you that that old trick won’t work on me,” he calls calmly, watching the cannon as he glides on. He’s far enough now that he can dodge any shot, no matter how true its aim… but still, the beast fires a laser. He rolls to the side in the air, dodging effortlessly—

A tiny machine shoots forward, throwing itself in front of the beam.

“What’s—  _ Aaagh _ !“ Revali hardly has time to choke out the word before the laser pierces his wing, ricocheting off of the little robot at an angle and tearing a hole straight through his feathers. He flaps his wings, tries to get height off of his Gale, but the hit was too good and he can’t fly straight.

The machines surround him, far faster than their master, and the beams ricochet back and forth off of their surfaces, bouncing all around Revali in a torrent of bright blue. He can’t deflect or dodge them, and they pierce through him again and again, tearing his feathers, knocking him off balance--

He crashes to the surface of Vah Medoh, right in front of the terminal.

[ERROR 0.]

[SEND DISTRESS CALL?]

[Y/N]

The monster is hovering over him.

Revali feebly lifts a wing towards the terminal--

The cannon comes down on his back.

Again and again, the weapon bludgeons Revali. His ears are ringing, he can feel his throat turning raw with screams, but it’s like his mind has detached from his body, and he only experiences the sensations as though watching them from a distance. His bones are breaking, his body is falling apart, and the monster shows no signs of stopping...

Is he... dying…?

The monster won’t stop. Revali’s mind feels foggy. It’s hard to think of anything through the pain, hard to make distinctions… but still he hears something, a sound that brings his mind back for just a moment.

Vah Medoh is screaming.

“There… There there, Medoh…” He can’t move, but he tries to press his wing against her surface a little harder. “It’s… It’s going to be alright…”

The monster finally stops, hovering over Revali. It stares with its unblinking eye, bloodied cannon hanging in the air above him. Revali tries to drag himself to his feet, but only gets about as far as his knees. It occurs to him that he’s using the beeping terminal for support, and he looks at its screen with weary eyes.

[ERROR 0.]

[SEND DISTRESS CALL?]

[Y/N]

The monster makes a strange, raspy noise that sounds something like a laugh to Revali’s ears. He tries not to think about it, instead trying with all his might to lift his broken wing, raise it to the terminal’s surface.

“I’ll… get help for you…” His eyes move to Vah Medoh’s head. It keeps shrieking, its cry piercing the violent winds and striking through his mind like a siren. “No need to cry… You’ll be… You’ll be alright. That Hylian… the hero… He’ll…”

He finds the last of his strength and lifts his wing. The terminal beeps as his feathers finally brush the option-- Yes.

Angry, rhythmic beeps begin echoing from the terminal, loud and clear in the sky. He smiles with relief, finally releasing the terminal to sink back down to the floor. Around him, Vah Medoh begins to turn red instead of blue--another signal of distress.

So he couldn’t win.

So he’s going to die a failure.

He wasn’t cut out for this after all, was he...

But… at least he could save Medoh. So maybe his failure won’t mean the end for all Hyrule.

He can feel them descending rapidly, Vah Medoh’s fans quickly giving out under the weight of the stress, Malice probably infecting every part of her now. Revali looks out into the sky, his vision blurry as he tries to search for Hyrule Castle. If he can see them, then that means they’ll be able to see him. They’ll know. They’ll be able to help…

They pass through the clouds, and Revali can see all of Hyrule laid out before them.

Every single Divine Beast is bright red.

His heart pounds as he sees it. Vah Ruta, Vah Rudania, even Vah Naboris… all are glimmering with bright, angry red colors. And if he listens, he can hear the same sound echoing out across all of Hyrule: The rhythmic, lonely beeping of their distress signals, all shouting the same plea for help.

Revali shivers, heart racing. Not just him. Daruk, Urbosa, Mipha… All of them have failed.

It’s over.

He closes his eyes, willpower leaving him as Ganon’s monster laughs again above him. Revali doesn’t have to look to know what’s going to happen. He lets his wings rest against Medoh’s surface in a grim parody of a hug, her screaming cry still ringing through the air.

“Medoh… Everyone… I’m sorry.”

In an instant, the screams are silenced and Revali's world grows dark.


End file.
